Hands
by Kalira69
Summary: Sokka may have been mistaken about the strength of the Fire Nation liquor.


Written for a Mousie's request on my Tumblr. Prompt (dialogue) in end notes.

* * *

"Zuko. _Zuuuko_." Sokka wheedled, leaning heavily against his shoulder. Zuko thought he felt some of the daqujiu splash onto his thigh from Sokka's cup and sighed, reaching up to steady it. He tried to take it from Sokka's grip, but he was holding on determinedly.

Sokka took another drink - he probably really didn't need it, but Zuko and Ty Lee had both tried to deliver warnings earlier about how strong daqujiu can be and Suki was the only one who actually listened. She was still sipping from her second glass, and she kept throwing amused looks at Zuko and Sokka, not quite hiding them behind her drink.

Sokka put his cup aside, at last, but only - to Zuko's surprise - to grab his hand.

Sokka's hands were warm and gentle, if a little clumsy, as he petted Zuko's palm and traced lines over his knuckles, moving down to stroke his fingers. He was at least not _singing_ \- or what passed for it, to a drunk Sokka - and Zuko would take that and be glad of it.

"Your hands. . ." Sokka said, not quite mumbling, but his words sort of sliding into each other clumsily.

"Mm?" Zuko replied absently, righting a bowl - empty, at least - that Sokka had just knocked over with one knee, putting it further away. Sokka refused to release his right hand, but Zuko hardly minded that.

" _Your hands are_ _so dainty_!" Sokka continued, suddenly far too loud, and Zuko's first reaction was _what._

Suki, he noticed, had nearly choked on her drink.

Zuko took a moment. Sokka folded his hands around Zuko's own, just as callused - though not in the same patterns - and. . . "Yes, dear." Zuko said dryly, lips quirking as he shook his head, rubbing his thumb over the side of Sokka's index finger. "Your hands are so much larger than mine."

"They're _pretty_!" Sokka continued, still a bit too loud. "I like them." he nearly crooned, rubbing Zuko's hand between his own.

Zuko couldn't help the smile that tugged at his lips. "I'm glad." he said, folding his fingers around Sokka's and lifting their hands to his lips, kissing the back of his lover's - broader, bigger than his own - lightly. "I like yours, too." he said honestly.

Sokka gave him a big, slightly sloppy but still sweet smile. Zuko would deny, if asked, that his heart melted a little when Sokka looked at him that way - or, rather, the way that it translated to when he was sober. This was a first.

"I 'specially like them when you get 'em all nice and slick," Sokka said, and Zuko's eyes widened, "and you-"

" _And_ you're going to stop right there," Zuko said abruptly, interrupting _and_ covering Sokka's mouth with one hand, "because your sister and her boyfriend are sitting _right over there_." As was his ex-girlfriend, and _Zuko's_ ex-girlfriend, for that matter.

They looked slightly less bothered than Katara, who had gone an odd shade of red and looked faintly horrified. Ty Lee had sat up straighter and looked- No, Zuko wasn't going to think about that look.

Zuko felt faintly horrified himself as Sokka's fingers closed about his hand again and the tips of his fingers slipped over Sokka's lips into his mouth with a playful nip. It was a little harder than Sokka would usually bite his fingers, but Sokka's _tongue_ was just as clever and dextrous as ever and-

Zuko yanked his hand away, with a bit of a sting at the pad of his middle finger from dragging over Sokka's teeth. Sokka pouted at him, soft blue eyes pitiful and generous mouth curved sadly. Zuko frowned at him.

" _So._ " he said, clearing his throat. "I'm going to go and put Sokka to bed now."

" _YES!_ "

" _No._ " Zuko countered immediately, grabbing Sokka's wrist when he reached out, all but falling into Zuko's lap with the movement. "No, I'm going to put you to bed where you can pass out and dream of the hangover you'll be nursing in the morning." he said dryly.

"But- But. . ." Sokka pouted again, and Zuko snorted, unfolding his legs and rising to his feet. Katara, he noticed, was still blushing but also now smothering what appeared to be laughter.

"No arguments. Not tonight." Zuko said, drawing Sokka to his feet with very little help from Sokka himself. He fell and plastered himself against Zuko, clearly on purpose, and Zuko sighed but held him close, stroking his back affectionately.

"But. . . But I _really_ like when you. . ." Sokka breathed, hot and damp, against Zuko's ear. It did not aid his restraint at all.

"I'm," Zuko swallowed, "glad to hear it." he said, slightly strained. "I do too." he added quietly. "But you still can't have it tonight. You are _drunk_ , love."

"Oh. . ." Sokka wobbled a bit as Zuko helped him straighten. ". . .I'm sorry?" he said uncertainly.

"Oh, you will be, I'm sure." Zuko told him wryly. "But not from my doing. I warned you about the daqujiu, but," he paused, remembering Sokka scoffing at the 'weakness' of Fire Nation liquor as he downed half of his first cup in one long swallow, "you. . ."

Sokka wobbled and leaned a little closer, resting against Zuko again. Zuko sighed, steadying him and pushing him back again.

"Never mind. Come on, to bed, dear." Zuko said, shaking his head. He'd no doubt have the opportunity to remind Sokka exactly how foolish he'd been tomorrow, and then he might actually listen. He helped Sokka navigate the scattered pillows on the floor and step over the sprawled and quietly snoring body of Toph not far away. "Good night." he said to the others before shooing Sokka on towards the door.

"Good night!" Suki called, giggling, and waved.

Katara was still blushing, but she laughed a bit through her own - at least she wasn't angry - and Mai quirked an eyebrow, her amusement showing more in her eyes. Aang was slightly tipsier than he probably should have been and seemed very absorbed in telling a story to Suki's shoe. Which might have been marginally less odd if it had not been discarded a couple of steps away from Suki herself.

Sokka came with little protest, though he was unsteady on his feet and he kept getting distracted to press messy kisses up Zuko's throat and bite playfully at his shoulder through his clothes. It shouldn't have been as sexy as it _was_ , Sokka was sloppy and loose and. . .

Zuko blamed his reaction the daqujiu he'd drunk himself, and ignored the heat of the bruises he was going to have from Sokka's clumsy, too-hard bites. He nuzzled Sokka's cheek and hauled him properly upright again with an arm around his waist when he began to slip. Zuko waved off a concerned-looking guard with a slight smile.

He got a nod and a slow salute, and ducked his head, amused and a little embarrassed, as he coaxed Sokka into walking again. It was certainly a more interesting route to his - their - bedchambers than usual, Zuko thought even as he tried to pry Sokka off him long enough to let him open the door _into_ their rooms.

A serving girl with an armload of laundry in a basket darted over with a bow and opened the door for him. Zuko smiled gratefully at her and she bowed again and hurried away. He shook his head and dragged Sokka through the door, where he immediately spotted the bed and drew himself up with remarkable stability to move towards it.

Zuko narrowed his eyes at his lover's back, closed the door, and moved to catch Sokka by the back of his tunic before he could either faceplant into bed still wearing it, or strangle himself trying to get it off alone.

Sokka grinned, broad and slightly crooked, which his smiles usually weren't, as Zuko began to undress him. "Knew you couldn't _really_ resist me." he said proudly, fingers sliding through Zuko's hair, catching painfully as he reached a section that was still bound up.

"Right." Zuko said dryly, disengaging Sokka's hand from his hair and rising. "You're so irresistible when you're ignoring my advice and getting so drunk you can hardly stand." He tugged off Sokka's shirt and nudged him to sit down on the bed, which he did with a graceless flop. "Pants now."

Sokka wriggled unhelpfully as Zuko was getting the pants off, but he suspected it had actually been an attempt to assist the task. Sokka's fingers were clumsy but gentle as he reached up and stroked Zuko's face, sweet, and Zuko looked up to meet his eyes, hazy but warm.

The movement of his hips, as he arched and shoved his partially-stiffened cock against Zuko's cheek through his underclothes, was neither sweet nor gentle. Zuko snorted and rose again, catching Sokka's now-bare thigh and using the grip to push at him, sending him skidding back a little more from the edge of the bed and toppling down fully.

Zuko dropped Sokka's clothes, and the top layers of his own, into the laundry basket, and fetched a pitcher of water and a cup from the next room. He put it down on the nightstand on Sokka's side of the bed and then crossed his arms, watching his lover for a few long moments.

Sokka was already snoring, mouth gaping open and his face smushed halfway into a pillow. Zuko smiled fondly and rolled his eyes, gently shifting him up onto his side and tugging the lightest of the blankets over him.

"You are so _very_ drunk, my love." Zuko said softly, kissing his cheek. "You are going to hate everything in the morning." He left Sokka in bed and slipped out onto the balcony, folding himself into a meditation pose on the stone floor, hands coming to rest on his thighs.

He closed his eyes and breathed, deep and slow, calming his mind.

He was a little drunk too, but it was only a pleasant tingle, enough to make him feel slightly loose and - now he was calm and quiet - lazy. He smiled and let out a soft sigh, leaning back and looking at the stars above.

* * *

Mousie asked for the line: "Your hands are so much larger than mine."

If you've a request of your own, I'm still accepting prompts on Tumblr (at Kalira9). I had this ready to go up hours ago but . . . it's been a day. (Also why I never got around to coming up with a cleverer title, apologies!)

Ah, and I used daqujiu for the Fire Nation liquor because it is pretty strong (~52% alcohol by volume, evidently) and from Sichuan, which is the area most if not all of the Fire Nation cuisine shown in canon (that exists in our world, in any case) is from.


End file.
